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Posted on 01/28/2019 4:24:29 AM PST by vannrox
When The Dukes of Hazzard premiered on January 26, 1979, it was intended to be a temporary patch in CBS’s primetime schedule until The Incredible Hulk returned. Only nine episodes were ordered, and few executives at the network had any expectation that the series—about two amiable brothers at odds with the corrupt law enforcement of Hazzard County—would become both a ratings powerhouse and a merchandising bonanza. Check out some of these lesser-known facts about the Duke boys, their extended family, and the gravity-defying General Lee, which made their small-screen debut 40 years ago today.
CBS chairman William Paley never quite bought into the idea of spinning his opinion to match the company line. Having built CBS from a radio station to one of the “Big Three” television networks, he had harvested talent as diverse as Norman Lear and Lucille Ball, a marked contrast to the Southern-fried humor of The Dukes of Hazzard. In his 80s when it became a top 10 series and seeing no reason to censor himself, Paley repeatedly and publicly described the show as “lousy.”
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While John Schneider and Tom Wopat were the ostensible stars of the show, both the actors and the show's producers quickly found out that the main attraction was the 1969 Dodge Charger—dubbed the General Lee—that trafficked brothers Bo and Luke Duke from one caper to another. Of the 60,000 letters the series was receiving every month in 1981, 35,000 wanted more information on or pictures of the car.
When the show began casting in 1978, producers threw out a wide net searching for the leads. Dennis Quaid was among those interested in the role of Luke Duke—which eventually went to Wopat—but he had a condition: he would only agree to the show if his then-wife, P.J. Soles, was cast at the Dukes’ cousin, Daisy. Soles wasn’t a proper fit for the supporting part, which put Quaid off; Catherine Bach was eventually cast as Daisy.
New York native Schneider was only 18 years old when he went in to read for the role of Bo Duke. The problem: producers wanted someone 24 to 30 years old. Schneider lied about his age and passed himself off as a Southern archetype, strutting in wearing a cowboy hat, drinking a beer, and spitting tobacco. He also told them he could do stunt driving. It was a good enough performance to land him the show.
After Schneider was cast, the show needed to locate an actor who could complement Bo. Stage actor Wopat was flown in for a screen test; Schneider happened to be in the bathroom when Wopat walked in after him. The two began talking about music—Schneider had seen a guitar under the stall door—and found they had an easy camaraderie. After flushing, the two did a scene. Wopat was hired immediately.
Bach’s omnipresent jean shorts were such a hit that any kind of cutoffs quickly became known as “Daisy Dukes,” after her character. But they were so skimpy that the network was concerned censors wouldn’t allow them. A negotiation began, and it was eventually decided that Bach would wear some extremely sheer pantyhose to make sure there were no clothing malfunctions.
Shirley Moore, Bach’s former grade school teacher, went on to work in the White House. After Bach sent her a poster, she was surprised to hear back that then-First Lady Nancy Reagan was enamored with it. “I’m the envy of the White House and I’m having your poster framed,” Moore wrote in a letter. “Mrs. Reagan saw the picture and fell in love with it.” Bach sent more posters, which presumably became part of the decor during the Reagan administration.
Wopat and Schneider famously walked off the series in 1982 after demanding a cut of the show’s massive merchandising revenue—which was, by one estimate, more than $190 million in 1981 alone. They were replaced with Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer, “cousins” of the Duke boys, who were reviled by fans for being scabs. The two leads eventually came back, but it wasn’t the only time Warner Bros. had to deal with irate actors. James Best, who portrayed crooked sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, refused to film five episodes because he had no private dressing room in which to change his clothes; the production just hosed him down when he got dirty. Ben Jones, who played “Cooter” the mechanic, briefly left because he wanted his character to sport a beard and producers preferred he be clean-shaven.
As established, the General Lee was a primary attraction for viewers of the series. For years, the show wrecked dozens of Chargers by jumping, crashing, and otherwise abusing them, which created some terrific footage. For its seventh and final season in 1985, the show turned to a miniature effects team in an effort to save on production costs: it was cheaper to mangle a Hot Wheels-sized model than the real thing. “It was a source of embarrassment to all of us on the show,” Wopat told E!.
A staple—and, eventually, cliché—of action films everywhere, the slide over the hood was popularized by Tom Wopat. While it may have been tempting to take credit, Wopat said it was unintentional and that the first time he tried clearing the hood, the car’s antenna wound up injuring him.
Warner Bros. capitalized on the show’s phenomenal popularity with an animated series, The Dukes, which was produced by Hanna-Barbera and aired in 1983. Taking advantage of the form, the Duke boys traveled internationally, racing Boss Hogg through Greece or Hong Kong. Perhaps owing to the fact that the live-action series was already considered enough of a cartoon, the animated series only lasted 20 episodes.
At the time the series originally aired, little was made of the General Lee sporting a Confederate flag on its hood. In 2015, after then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley spoke out against the depiction of the flag in popular culture, Warner Bros. elected to stop licensing products with the original roof. The company announced that all future Dukes merchandise would drop the design element. Schneider disagreed with the decision, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “Is the flag used as such in other applications? Yes, but certainly not on the Dukes ... Labeling anyone who has the flag a ‘racist’ seems unfair to those who are clearly ‘never meanin’ no harm.'”
I was a big Daisy Duke fan. I often watched it just to see her and the car.
Thought the show itself was dumb as a post though. Sorry fans. (Plus all those poor Dodge Chargers they ruined…criminal).
I assume it would be racist to watch it now? Do they digitally replace the battle flag with a gay rainbow or a pink Pussy Hat???
Tony Pyle and I were school chums from 4th grade to 12th grade in Newport Beach. Tony’s dad played the Duke patriarch - among many other roles.
They didn’t like Guns but
had plenty of Dynamite!
Because General Lee was a Confederate, he is, by leftist definition, a racist. Because is this, the car known as the ‘General Lee’ shall henceforth be known as the ‘Generally’.
-by order of the leftist, PC, SJWs of the world
</sarc>
Tony Pyle? I thought it was Denver Pyle.
Of course, that was likely his stage name.
When confronted with the confederate flag haters, they should have done like Georgia did... replace the confederate flag in their state flag with another confederate flag. Leftist lunkheads didn't seem to notice.
Read it again.
Most likely they too already totaled Chargers and only had a bit of work to make them look right and run just enough to do those impossible jumps.
Our family was just talking about this last night.
Oh, how I loved Bo Duke when I was 14. I was absolutely transfixed every time he was on screen.
Yeah. The liberal mindset said no guns for the good ole boys. But dynamite strapped to arrows was ‘cute’ and like the A team, nobody got killed.
The movie was worse. Uncle Jess (Willy Nelson)and Boss Hogg ( Burt Reynolds) would repair to an out building to smoke Willy’s weed. And I was surprised that in 2005 that the charger still had the battle flag.
Okay, having your cousin played by your (then) wife? That would’ve set up a whole different set of stereotype jokes!
I watched the show - not regularly but I’d catch it whenever I could. For me the draw was Daisy (obviously) and the chase scenes. As a kid I knew enough about cars (and watched the footage carefully - of the cars and Daisy) to know the jumps wrecked the cars. I liked the chase scenes - sliding around corners, blasting through fields with twin dirt geysers spraying from the rear wheels... There may have been a time or two in my youth I was similarly chased and used the abilities of my off road vehicle to escape ah, overburdened local 4 doors with more hp than common sense...
I assume it would be racist to watch it now? Do they digitally replace the battle flag with a gay rainbow or a pink Pussy Hat???
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I watched an episode of Counts Kustoms a bit ago. They did a General Lee for a couple.
Instead of a big Confederate flag on the roof they painted an American Flag.
Tony’s dad was Denver Pyle who played the Duke patriarch- geez, I’m not that old. LOL
LOL -
“In 2015, after then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley spoke out against the depiction of the flag in popular culture...”
Yep, that is what happens when immigrants are exalted to positions of leadership. They are tone deaf to cultural heritage when fired to the hilt by political ambition and think they are singled out by destiny to lord it over the natives.
I have noticed that some posters on this site get twitterpated at the mere mention of Nikki Haley. I honestly cannot figure out why.
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